A little about my Uncle...
Uncle Wei immigrated here back when Oscar was probably 4 or 5, since he's 18 now, that means probably 13-14yrs ago? When he first came here, he was forced to leave Megan (my cousin) and his wife (my Aunt) behind in China. Space was tight, as my parents, my grandma, my brother and my uncle all squeezed inside our cozy 3 bedroom apartment, but we made room for him and welcomed him into our home. He was very good to our family, treating Oscar and I like his own children. This special treatment towards Oscar and I lasted many years, until Megan and her mom were finally granted visa's to come to the states so they could be reunited. Lucky for them, my parents bought a bigger house (the one we currently live in) and we were able to accommodate them as well. So for a while, my family and Uncle Wei's family lived together in our four bedroom, two bathroom house. Pretty soon, they got their own place and moved away.
I still remember how neglected I felt when Megan came into the picture. It was almost like my Uncle had abandoned Oscar and I. We were no longer the center of his attention. It never made very much sense to me why I cared so much since he was just my Uncle. And it actually does make more sense that he pays more attention to his own daughter than to me and Oscar, but for some reason, I have this longing for his affection. I always admired how much my Uncle loved Megan and am very saddened that Megan doesn't seem to reciprocate any of that love towards her own father. It makes me almost hate her for being so nonchalant about how much my Uncle does for her and all the sacrifices he makes for her. She seems to not appreciate anything he does for her. It's not fair! He's a great father and a great husband and yet it goes unnoticed everyday by his own wife and daughter! Oh well...I guess I can't sit here and rant/ramble about injustices in the world all day long...so back to the party...
As soon as I saw my Uncle Wei yesterday I was very shocked at how much weight he has lost. He must be working very hard and must not be taking care of himself really well. Megan and I dormed together for my Junior year in Undergrad at UCSD and she would tell me about Uncle Wei has chronic liver or kidney problems. And during that period, Megan even told me how Uncle Wei might have sleep apnea and needs to enroll in a sleep study to fully diagnose him. But Megan slacked on filling out the forms and failed to enroll him in the sleep study for the whole year we dormed together. I would nag her about it every week and finally it got to the point that I just couldn't stand it anymore and offered to fill out the paperwork for Uncle Wei myself so he can get the ball rolling on getting enrolled in the study, but Megan declined my offer. I didn't follow up on it, but I hope he has all his health concerns taken care of. It just concerns me so much to see how thin and frail he looks now.
I brought my graduation photos for my Uncle to see because he wasn't able to attend this year. (He works 6 days a week with no vacation time!) But since he was hosting the party, he didn't have time to see my pictures.
I didn't even notice this at the time until my mom pointed it out today, but when he was done cooking yesterday and it was time to eat, the first name my Uncle Wei called to go eat was ME :) He didn't call anyone else to go eat, but he called me :) It's nice to know that I still have a special place in his heart. (But all things considered, I have to keep in mind that Megan wasn't there yesterday because she was working, but I'll take what I can get)
When I left, Uncle Wei and my aunt prepared a red envelope for me to congratulate me for graduating this year. Their red envelope money (as always) was very generous. Also another indication of how much he cares about me :)
I am grateful for how generous and helpful my Uncle Wei has been to me and I will always have a special place in my heart for him.
On another note: "pancake" was very cranky yesterday because he was sleep deprived and had a low grade fever, so he wasn't very fun to play with at all. Thank goodness we had Alex to play with. He always has a lot of energy.
All in all, the party went well, I was just glad I got to see my Uncle.
My dad made a watermelon basket for the party:
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